I know strawberries are grown in Baguio but I never had the opportunity of eating some. “How does it taste like?” I asked myself.
It wasn’t until I went to the United States that I finally had my first taste of strawberries. My aunt Aida planted some strawberries near the fences all over her place in Ohio. “Your uncle Carl likes them,” she told me.
But both of them were working. So, when the two went to their respective jobs, I had the grand time of harvesting the red and heart-shaped fruits. What made the harvesting more fascinating was the fact that the autumn season had just started.
I brought the freshly-picked strawberries inside and sliced some of them. I put the sliced strawberries in a bowl and then poured some milk on top. So, while watching my favorite television shows, I was eating strawberries.
After staying for almost a month at my aunt’s place, I flew to Hibbing, Minnesota, where my sister Elena and her family lived. At one time, we went to the nearby city of Grand Rapids. It was there that I had my first taste of strawberry dipped in a chocolate. Mucho gusto!
Strawberry is known in the science world as Fragaria ananassa. A regular-size fruit has about 75 percent water, thus eating it helps makes a person’s skin hydrated and glossy. A low-calorie fruit, it is an excellent choice for those who want to lose weight.
The strawberry fruit was mentioned in ancient Roman literature in reference to its medicinal use. The French began taking the strawberry from the forest to their gardens for harvest in the 1300s. Charles the fifth, the French king of the late 1300s, had 1,200 strawberry plants in his royal garden.
In the early 1400s western European monks were using the wild strawberry in their illuminated manuscripts. The strawberry is found in Italian, Flemish, German art, and English miniatures. It symbolizes perfect righteousness. The entire strawberry plant was used to cure depressive illnesses.
By the 1500s references of cultivation of the strawberry became more common. People began using it for its supposed medicinal properties and botanists began naming the different species. In England, the demand for regular strawberry farming had increased by the mid-1500s.
In the Philippines, strawberries are only grown in the highland places of Benguet and Baguio. In Mindanao, they thrive in some cool areas of Davao City.
When it comes to preventing cancer, can what you eat make a difference?
Certain foods are high in antioxidants, which mop up the free radicals that contribute to cancer. But in studies it’s been a challenge to tease apart the effects of diet alone on cancer risk, since people who eat foods rich in antioxidants also tend to exercise more and avoid smoking, other factors that are known to lower the chances of developing cancer.
Now, in a small study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research, researchers uncovered more intriguing evidence that diet may influence the cancer process, even before it begins. Among three dozen participants at high risk of developing esophageal cancer in China, it turned out that eating strawberries helped prevent early lesions from developing into tumors. That’s right – strawberries.
Alice Park, a staff writer at Time and covers health, medicine, nutrition and fitness, reports: “Tong Chen, a cancer researcher at Ohio State Comprehensive Cancer Center, decided to look at strawberries as a cancer-preventer in humans after animal studies showed that the fruit had anti-cancer effects. With plenty of dried fruit supplied by the California Strawberry Commission, which also funded the study, she focused her trial on 36 participants from three provinces in central China that have among the world’s highest rates of esophageal cancer.
Chen gave the volunteers freeze-dried strawberry powder, which was mixed with water into a drink. The freeze-dried form tends to concentrate whatever beneficial properties the fruit might have.
“In many cases, esophageal cancer progresses from pre-cancerous growths that are graded as mild, moderate and severe for their likelihood of advancing into malignancy,” Park writes. “Among the participants in the study, 29 saw their lesions revert to a less dangerous state — from mild to ungraded, or from moderate to mild — after six months of consuming the equivalent of two ounces of strawberries a day.”
There are several other healthy reasons why you should eat strawberries, according to Alicia Cox, author of an article which listed ten health benefits of the fruit. For one, strawberries boost immunity.
“Strawberries are an excellent source of vitamin C,” says Toronto-based registered dietitian Madeleine Edwards. Most mammals – except for human beings – have the ability to produce vitamin C naturally, which is why it’s so important to get your daily requirement. “One serving of strawberries contains 51.5 mg of vitamin C – about half of your daily requirement,” Edwards says. “Double a serving to one cup and get 100 percent.”
Vitamin C is a well-known immunity booster, as well as a powerful, fast-working antioxidant. A 2010 study of University of California at Los Angeles discovered that the antioxidant power in strawberries becomes “bioavailable” or “ready to work in the blood” after eating the fruit for just a few weeks.
Like most fruits, strawberries also fight bad cholesterol as they also contain powerful heart-health boosters. “Ellagic acid and flavonoids – or phytochemicals – can provide an antioxidant effect that can benefit heart health in various ways,” explains Edwards.
“One way includes counteracting the effect of low-density lipoprotein, or LDL – the bad cholesterol in the blood – which causes plaque to build up in arteries,” says Edwards. “A second way is that they provide an anti-inflammatory effect, which is also good for the heart.”
Researchers at the Clinical Nutrition and Risk Factor Modification Center in Toronto studied the effect of strawberries on a cholesterol-lowering diet and concluded that adding strawberries to the diet reduced oxidative damage, as well as blood lipids – both of which play a role in heart disease and diabetes.
According to Cox, strawberries regulate blood pressure. Potassium is yet another heart healthy nutrient found in strawberries, and with 134 milligrams per serving, strawberries are considered a “medium source,” the Alberta Health Services points out.
“Potassium can help regulate blood pressure and may even help to lower high blood pressure by acting as a buffer against the negative effects of sodium,” Cox writes. “With their impact on the reduction of LDL, inflammation and high blood pressure, strawberries have earned the title of one of the most heart-healthy fruits you can eat.”
Nutritionists said strawberries are packed with B2, B5, B6, vitamin K, copper, and magnesium. They also contain folate, a key ingredient in the manufacture of red blood cells. Strawberries likewise contain omega fatty acids and essential fiber.
Fiber is a necessity for healthy digestion, and strawberries naturally contain about 2 grams per serving. Problems that can arise from lack of fiber include constipation and diverticulitis (an inflammation of the intestines).
Fiber can also aid in fighting type 2 diabetes, one of the most common lifestyle diseases these days. “Fiber helps slow the absorption of sugars (that is, glucose) in the blood,” says Edwards. “As a result, adults who are managing diabetes can enjoy strawberries – in moderation – in their diet.”
A food allergy results when your body’s immune system responds in an abnormal way after you eat a certain food. Specifically, your body’s immune system mistakenly identifies the food as a foreign invader and produces a substance called histamine that causes allergic symptoms, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Some people may suffer from allergy in strawberries, known as oral allergy syndrome. The symptoms of astrawberry allergy are the same as that of any food allergy reaction. According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms can appear within a few minutes to an hour after eating the food and can include: a rash or red ring around the mouth; hives and/or swelling; eczema; vomiting; diarrhea; swelling or itching of the mouth, lips or tongue; and tightness in the throat and/or difficulty breathing.
The Mayo Clinic says the most common treatment for allergic symptoms is to take an antihistamine medication, such as Benadryl, as soon as symptoms appear. An antihistamine can slow your body’s immune response, reduce allergic symptoms and prevent a more serious reaction. Check with your doctor or pharmacist about the correct dosage.
